THE Daily Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1920. LAND SETTLEMENT DIFFICULTIES.

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5878, 3 April 1920, Page 2

THE Daily Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER

SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1920. LAND SETTLEMENT DIFFICULTIES.

Here shall the Press the People's Riglit maintain Unawed by influence and mdiribed by gain Here Patriot Truth her glorious preceptn draw, Pledged to BWinion Liberty and Law

Much of the most valuable of the laud iu lilt* possession of Hie Government as Crown la.uds which should be available for settlement is land purchased from Maori' owners. These purchase-; sire not made in such a way 'that the Government can acquire definite areas. Sometimes purchases of the lviiul are made, but not alway.;. Often the purchase is merely oO certain groups of interests in a. huge block. Va these circumstances .it is not possible to p,o on with settlement <>; the land until all the interests in ho block have beoa acquired and surveys completed. The Minister of Lands (Mr Guthrie) lias ab ready said tha:t he has a proposal to sirraugfj with the nacres to exchange interests, in order that the Government may obtainf for .its ])urehase money n block of land which it w'M be possible

tb road and settle. This arrangonieut, which applies especially to Urowera purchases, may not be one that can be speedily mad?. In other cases,, the block acquired by the Government is in close proximity to other native land not yet purchased, which the Coventnent hopes some day to bo able to purchase, and I the effect of riiading and settling those bocks would be to make 'the other native la.ruj impossible of purchase except at a very nn.u-ii enhanced value. Ec erring to this aspect o}' |he problem on "Wednesday at Wellington, {.ho Minister of Lands (Mr. Guthrie) ,s«,id< "The tine has dime when wu shall have L> adopt' some moans by vchU-h we may lv? able lo road undeveloped lands, whether held by Maoris or Europeans, and in considerations oi the benefit accruing to

iiu)*o lands, lo load them Villi » fa'r share of the expense." Ivlr Guthrie would not di.scu.ss lus scheme furtlioT. The advisor* of the natrves have always advised them not to hM i]u-f'r land. and they have- iwt failed lo rumplnin against the dispossession of the IMaori of his la.ivd. They say, in effect, that although 'the conditions under which much of the ia.nd is hold mala- it imposiblc for the Maori to make use of it. the endeavour of the Government should be lo assist the natives to develop their lands, and to us<> them rathe*- than Ui turn tlie natives off, and to put white men in possession. The suggestion made is that the natives should lie given the same aids as white niem in the way of lon us to develop their land. It is said that if this were done the natives would be c.nly too glad lo have 'their Ivth's indl.vMl'iLiilisfd. to Imve nil H l -"' - > ;i!uls surveyed, a'nd to put themselves into such a position that il WooU! be sa'e or the State to advance money on the !e----eurily of their land. These are. all matters for new even if the ideas arc ad'optcd by the Government.